August is now halfway through, which means school and a heavier work schedule is that much closer. It's time for long commutes and long classes, which makes for long days.

The one piece at the top of the list for most people doing back-to-school shopping is a new laptop or tablet. Considering that so much is now done online, it's the biggest necessity in modern life.

Amazon, Best Buy, and Walmart are offering another week of great deals across the board. And since the end of the summer is so close, there are plenty of great deals to take advantage of. If you're in need of an affordable laptop to perform and manage simple tasks, Acer and Samsung have Chromebooks to choose from. On the other end of the scale, you have your choice of several MacBook Pros and Microsoft Surfaces to save on for more demanding needs.

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